


First Christmas

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Gauntlets and Greaves, Happy AU, Merry Christmas, all of them spending their christmas together, family au, happy family fluff, merc and yang have a baby, pure christmas fluff, raven isn't a bitch, rwbaby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 15:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13103589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: Yang and Mercury celebrate their daughter's first Christmas with Yang's family. Some Christmas fluff for everyone who loves that kind of stuff. Yes, this is Rose from Bedtime Stories, in a version that is not necessarily an AU and where they never broke up.





	First Christmas

„Where is my Christmas sweater?“

“Don’t you have like five?” Mercury didn’t even look up. He was holding Rose on his lap, turning the lights of their small Christmas tree on and off, much to her delight. She reached for one of the baubles, but Mercury was sure not to let her get her hands on it. Next year she would already be walking and they would have to somehow stop her from pulling the Christmas decoration. The thought was hard for Yang to comprehend, but things hadn’t stopped feeling surreal to her ever since she had found out she was pregnant.

“The one dad got me. Yellow, has a sheep on it and says _Fleece Navidad_ …” She had turned the whole apartment upside down. It wasn’t even big, but it had never been supposed to be more than her own little apartment, the first place she ever had just for herself. Until she got pregnant and Mercury had despite all odds decided to stick around. Maybe this was why it had still felt like he was just visiting for a long time after he had moved in, ready to leave any moment. She had picked most of the furniture and the few things he owned were so easy to overlook.

Mercury turned the lights on and off a couple more times which made Rose laugh and giggle, then he looked at her. “I should have burned it, but it’s probably still in the laundry basket in the bedroom.”

“Can you pack the presents?” She turned around to leave, then turned back to them and got her scroll out. It was so hard not to keep staring at them. Staring at Rose being happy about Christmas lights, at Rose doing anything.

“Already did.” Mercury raised his eyebrows when she took a picture, but at least he didn’t protest. He was always hesitant about her taking pictures of him and Rose. Some old habits never died, even with his days of being an assassin being over. One of them was not to leave any trace of how much he loved her.

“We have to get ready.” She kneeled down to kiss Rose’s forehead and Mercury’s lips. “Are you ready?”

“Always ready.”

“Okay, I just need to get changed.” Rose had reached for some strands of Yang’s golden hair and she tried to stop her from putting it in her mouth. Mercury chuckled and tickled Rose until she began to squeal and let go of her hair.

“Don’t do that, Rose, saliva just messes with her excessive haircare routine.”

“And stop making it hard for me to get anything done.” Yang started to plant kisses on Rose’s face which only made her laugh even more. “I can’t stop looking at your cute squishy face when you’re so adorable.”

“The nicest thing she has ever said to me was that I’m not as much of a jerk when I’m asleep. I’m getting jealous.” He wasn’t. She could see it in the way he smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Having a child with him should have been the worst idea she had ever had, but moments like these made her wonder why she had ever had any doubts.

“You can already get her dressed. We really have to leave.”

Getting ready was so much harder with a child. So many things they couldn’t forget, all of them spread over their always a bit messy apartment, despite Weiss putting real effort into cleaning it every time she came over. Yang found Rose’s favourite plushie to chew on between the pillows on the couch they had bought right before Rose had been born, right before they had finally moved in together, and her favourite blanket in the laundry basket, along with the yellow sweater. She hadn’t been able to talk Mercury into a Christmas sweater, but she still stuffed one of his warm hoodies into their bag because he always got cold when he was tired. Like an old married couple. She snorted at the thought.

Yang had long ago stopped caring whether Rose’s tiny baby socks were matching or not, but Christmas was an occasion that required a more formal attire. Mercury protested when he put her into the reindeer sweater Ruby had bought for her, and he insisted on only doing it because it was the warmest and most comfortable one she owned. She looked absolutely adorable.

"Do you have Ruby's present?", Yang asked.

"You put them all in the bag, didn't you?"

“Then we’re ready to leave.”

“Wait.” Mercury looked at her. “Presents.”

“You said you got the –“

“No, I have something for you.” He went to the desk they both used to maintain their prosthetics, only tidy because they were scared a screw could fall to the floor and Rose could swallow it. He pulled something out of a drawer and tossed it at her.

“I thought you’re not doing any of this ‘Christmas nonsense’.” She turned the small package in her hands. It was clumsily wrapped in the same paper she had used for Rose’s presents.

“I already threw that out of the window for her.” He pointed at Rose who was sitting on the floor and happily chewed on the ear of her stuffed black cat. “Also I know you got me a present. I won’t let you use that against me the next time we have a fight. Open it.”

She could feel his gaze on her as she carefully unwrapped it. Presents weren’t really something they did in their relationship. He had refused to tell her when his birthday was until this year, and even when he did the date had already passed.

Yang wasn’t sure what she had expected, but definitely not that. The small box looked too neat and expensive for something that had went through his hands. For a moment she expected something stupid inside, a condom or a voucher for changings Rose’s diapers for a day, but instead it was a necklace. Gold and amber, it looked old and expensive.

“Did Emerald pick that?”, she asked because she didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah.” He shrugged and she knew that the truth was something she might never find out. “Let’s go now.”

“No, wait. I want to wear it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

“What did you expect me to do with it?” She gave him the box as he came close and turned around, holding her hair up. “Help me.”

His fingers ghosted over her neck for a moment, tickling her most sensitive spot and she knew he was doing it to mess with her. She felt the cold metal on her neck and for a brief moment his lips before he pulled away. “If you don’t want to call your dad and tell him we’re gonna be late we should –“

She turned around and pulled him closer to kiss him. He sighed. “Don’t ruin this, Christmas is already cheesy enough.”

“Tell Emerald I love it.”

“I will.” He kissed her again, but after a moment Rose tucked on her jeans. She looked down. Rose had pulled herself up by her jeans, struggling to stand and looking at her with the sad affection-craving face she always had when no one payed attention to her for too long.

“Look who’s jealous.” Mercury picked up Rose and pretended to bite her neck. Rose squeaked. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. She reached for his hair, pulling at grey strands but he didn’t complain. If there was one thing he couldn’t do as a parent it was saying no. "Give me that bag. Can you take the rest?”

"Yeah. I'm sure we forgot something." Yang gave him the bag and kisses Rose's cheek before she took her coat on. "Diapers?"

"Got them."                                                                            

"Alright, let's go."

It was snowing outside. Mercury put Rose into her car seat and then covered her with a warm blanket. Yang sat down on the driver's seat and Mercury played with the radio as soon as Yang started the motor. He stopped when he found a channel with commercials, Rose loved commercials.

"Are you nervous?", Yang asked.

"Nervous? Why?"

"First Christmas with my family, you know? I don't know, I just thought..." Last year she had been heavily pregnant and he had still insisted on staying at home. Her dad had picked her up and brought her back home the next day with Mercury not letting her take a step by herself outside, anxious she might slip on snow and ice without wanting to admit it. But with Rose things were different and even though no one had ever planned for it to happen, he was now a part of this family too.

"Your dad will hardly kill me with the child around." He shrugged it off, changing the radio channel again when some Christmas song started playing.

The streets were completely white when Yang finally stopped in her dad’s driveway. Rose had thrown her blanket on the floor. She was eager to leave the car and do something exciting, even though she had no idea what to expect yet.

“She could have waited a bit with learning how to take her own socks off.” Mercury picked her tiny socks up from the floor. “Your feet will freeze off if you keep doing that.”

“She’s wearing tights.” Yang took the bag with the presents out of the trunk. “You’re just scaring her.”

“She doesn’t look very scared.” Mercury tickled Rose’s feet before he put her socks back on. She laughed when he picked her up.

“Absolutely terrified.”

Taiyang was the first who greeted them at the door. He hugged Yang and then stole Rose out of Mercury’s arms without paying much attention to him. Well, it was an improvement.

“Who is the cutest little girl on the planet?” Tai nuzzled her blond curls and Rose squealed with excitement. “Yes, you are!”

Yang smiled as she watched them. The house smelled like cinnamon and fir. She and Mercury took their coats and shoes off while Taiyang cuddled Rose. “I’ll bring our stuff upstairs”, Yang said. “It’s probably a bit cramped in the living room.”

“Good idea.” Tai looked at her. “I’ll borrow this little bundle of joy for a bit, I think Qrow hasn’t seen her in ages.”

“Closer to two weeks. Merc, can you put the presents under the tree?”

Her old room hadn’t changed. Yang threw their bag on the bed and spent an eternity searching for a second pair of socks in case Rose managed to lose hers again. When she came back downstairs Mercury was leaning against the wall, his expression rather worried than anything.

“Is everything alright?” Yang stopped in front of him. “Did dad say something mean?”

He leaned closer. “Your mum is here”, he whispered.

She froze. “What?”

“She’s in the living room. Did he tell you?”

“No. I mean… he probably just forgot.” She bit her lip and tried not to let it get to her. She wasn’t even sure why it upset her. They weren’t on bad terms, but she had never spent Christmas with her. It felt… odd.

“You still have baby drool in your hair.” Mercury ran his hands through her blonde curls.

“I still look more beautiful than you.” She pulled him down to kiss him. “Did you already say hello to everyone?”

“Ruby said hello. Your uncle ignored me, I guess that counts. Raven looked at me, I think she was eating my soul.”

“You’re so encouraging.” She pecked his cheek and then pulled him with her. He reached for her hand and squeezed it for a brief moment.

Ruby was holding Rose in her arms, letting her play with her hair and telling her how cute she was. She hugged Yang when she saw her and Yang stole her daughter back from her arms. She needed her for this.

Raven was sitting on the couch. She smiled when Yang sat down next to her. Yang awkwardly fumbled around with Rose’s sweater. “Hey”, she said, looking at her daughter so she didn’t have to look at her mum.

“She has grown.” Raven softly stroked Rose’s head, carefully running her hands through her blonde locks. “Last time I saw her was… a month ago. She looks so different.”

“They grow fast at this age.”

“Yes, I remember.”

Yang blinked and busied herself with stopping Rose from taking her sock off again. It almost sounded like she had been around far more often than she had ever admitted. “Do you… do you want to hold her?”

“Yes, sure.”

Rose loved Raven, and vice versa. She had only visited them a couple of times after Rose had been born, but the way she acted around her was always surprisingly soft. The way she touched her, held her. It was weird to see her mum like this, weird but not in a bad way. Raven smiled and let Rose play with her hair while Yang tried not to let her know that she didn’t know what to say.

“I didn’t know you’d come”, Yang said eventually.

“It was quite… spontaneous. Qrow invited me yesterday and told me I couldn’t miss my granddaughter’s first Christmas. Not that I get any of this.” Raven pointed at Tai and Ruby who placed presents under the Christmas tree. “Summer and Tai tried to explain it to us, but there is a tree in your living room. It doesn’t make sense. I guess you have to grow up with it.”

“It’s not only about that.”

“It’s about family, I know.” Rose pulled herself up by the collar of her sweater and Raven helped her to stand up. “That’s why I’m here after all. My first Christmas with you, Rose’s first Christmas at all. We might as well have all the firsts in one year.”

“It’s also Mercury’s first Christmas here.”

“With us or at all?”

She actually didn’t know. She had never dared to ask. Yang looked up. Mercury was sitting in her dad’s armchair, pretending not to stare at them. Should she have asked? “He doesn’t talk about his past much”, she said eventually.

“You really didn’t think this whole having kids thing through, did you?”

“Nope.”

To her surprise Raven laughed. “Me neither. But if I would have I might not have done it, so it was probably better to do it this way.” Raven got up, still holding Rose in her arms. “Come, if we don’t open presents now it will take forever until I get something to eat.”

It took them a bit to gather around the tree. Taiyang insisted on getting everyone a hot chocolate first, Qrow couldn’t find his presents. When they finally sat down it was almost dark outside.

“Ruby had a hard time waiting to open the presents.” Qrow smirked and ruffled Ruby’s hair.

“Hey! I told you it’s okay. I can wait. I’m not a child anymore. But next year Rose might not be too young to mind opening her presents in the afternoon.” Ruby smirked and took the first present from her pile. “Let’s finally begin. This one is for Rose.”

Rose sat on Yang’s lap again and already reached for the red package with her tiny fingers when Ruby gave it to Yang, fascinated by the shiny paper and the crackling sounds it made in Ruby’s hands. Yang gave her the present and Rose excitedly squeezed it.

“Well, she likes the paper”, Mercury said. He reached forward and tore a hole in it to make it easier for Rose to unwrap it.

“She loves everything that makes sounds at the moment.” Yang laughed as Rose tore the paper a bit, only to stuff it into her mouth. She heard a camera clicking somewhere, probably her dad. He had taken more pictures of Rose over the last year than he had taken of Ruby and Yang in their entire life, or at least it felt like that. “No, don’t eat that.” She took the paper out of Rose’s hands and mouth. Ruby helped Rose to unwrap the black stuffed dog. Rose loved it for about thirty seconds before she found out how much fun it was to throw it away and let someone give it back to her.

Unwrapping gifts was so much more fun with a child. Rose didn’t understand what was going on and enjoyed the wrapping paper the most, but she infected them all with her pure joy. Even Mercury allowed himself to give them one of the rare genuine smiles that were usually reserved for when only Yang and Rose could see him. Rose crawled over the floor and almost disappeared under a big mountain of wrapping paper, ignoring the plushies and books she had gotten for the moment, and the adults got to exchange their presents.

The most remarkable present was probably the one Tai and Qrow had for Mercury. Or that they had something in the first place. Yang was almost sure Ruby had picked it, but the scented stainless steel polish was at least something he didn’t hate. She had never seen him care about any material goods, only about the hassle it was to replace them. She had bought him non-slip socks, mainly as a hint that his prosthetics made a lot of noise at night, and a few of the comics he liked. Ruby had helped her to pick them.

“I didn’t have much time to pick presents”, Raven said. She took a bag that had been standing behind the tree, Yang had completely overlooked it. Yang hadn’t expected Raven to get them presents at all. She hadn’t gotten her anything either, but she also hadn’t known she would be here. At least they had sent a card. She wasn’t sure why it even baffled her this much.

The presents were neatly wrapped. She probably hadn’t done it herself. Ruby was the first to open hers. She carefully unwrapped it, almost intimidated, and Yang wanted to say something to make her feel less awkward, but Rose was immediately attracted by the crumbling noises and crawled towards her aunt, trying to climb on her lap and reach for the present.

“She wants to help you”, Yang said.

“Or she wants it for herself.” Mercury smirked. “Em would be proud.”

“I think we can share.” Ruby took Rose on her lap and let her tear at the wrapping paper with her tiny hands before she unwrapped it. “See? I get this and she gets the paper.” Luckily Rose was fine with that deal. Ruby took the book that had been inside and Rose happily nibbled on the wrapping paper.

“Summer loved books like that”, Raven said and shrugged. Yang wasn’t sure if she didn’t know what it probably meant to Ruby or if she wanted to act like it was nothing.

“Thank you.” Ruby looked down at the book.

“When we’re at it you can open Rose’s present as well.” Raven handed her another package, bigger, definitely not a book. Rose was too fond of her wrapping paper to care for the new one so Ruby unwrapped it for her, pulling out a stuffed raven that looked horribly fluffy. It caught Rose’s interest for a second, she reached for it and then just held it while she tried to eat the wrapping paper.

“It’s really cute”, Yang said. “She will love it.”

“Better not let her swallow that.” Mercury picked Rose up and carefully freed the wrapping paper from her hands and mouth. It took Rose a moment to realise what he was doing and she immediately started to cry. “Come on, you can eat that crap when you’re the one who has to clean up your vomit.” He softly stroked her hair.

“Her pacifier is in the diaper bag”, Yang said. “I can go get it.”

“It’s okay, I’ll go.” Big crocodile tears ran down Rose’s cheeks and Mercury wiped them away with his thumb. “Don’t wait for me.”

Yang looked at him as he left the room. It was hard not to be too obvious with how much she loved him when he acted that way around Rose. She bit her lip. For a moment Raven looked at her and Yang as sure she would say something, she would call her out on it, but then she looked away and pulled another package out of the bag. “That’s for you, Tai. You don’t have to act surprised.”

Tai smiled in a way he hadn’t smiled in a long time, at least not in front of Yang. It made him look younger. He unwrapped it fast, ripping the paper apart and pulling out a pair of dark red socks. “Really? Where did you get these? I have tried to find those for years.”

“They sell them everywhere.” Raven rolled her eyes. “Just open your eyes.”

“Those are the warmest socks you can find.” Taiyang beamed and took his own socks off to put Raven’s on.

“His feet get cold at night. Always.” Raven quickly pulled the next present out of the bag and tossed it at Qrow who barely caught it. “That one’s for you.”

“Is it poisoned?” Qrow raised an eyebrow and probably none of them knew how much it was a joke and how much not. Inside was a book. “ _How to stop drinking_ , haha, very funny.” Qrow snorted and put it on the floor without looking at it again.

“It made me think of you.”

Mercury came back before the twins could jump at each other’s throats. Rose didn’t look upset anymore, but she still clung to Mercury and wanted to be held when he sat down again. Unwrapping his present was unspectacular except of the pacifier finally stopping Rose from eating the wrapping paper and Mercury’s raised eyebrows at the book on good parenting that Raven had bought him. Almost as if he wanted to say _You’re the one to talk_. Yang knew him well enough to know that this was what he would have said if it hadn’t ended with Yang throwing something at him. At least their scepticism was mutual. Taiyang seemed to approve.

Yang was the last one to receive her present. The package was bigger than the others and she wasn’t even sure why she was so nervous when she unwrapped it. Inside was a box. She opened it and she didn’t know what she had expected, but definitely not a mug. Only when she took it out of the box she noticed the fine golden lines that ran over the dark porcelain.

“Kintsugi”, Ruby said. “I’ve read about it. You repair broken things with gold.”

It was oddly fitting. Yang didn’t even know why. “It’s… it’s pretty”, she said. “Thank you.” She felt like she should have said more, but she didn’t know what.

“Let’s finally eat”, Qrow said, a bit too rushed to count as casual. “I’m starving.”

Taiyang wasn’t even done slaughtering the turkey, fighting with Qrow and Raven until Raven took the knife away from him and did it herself, when Rose fell asleep on Mercury’s lap. He tried his best to eat with one arm, Yang cutting his food and Qrow making comments about them acting like an old couple. Weiss, spending Christmas with Blake and her family this year, sent pictures and Ruby and Yang made a game out of sending the most ridiculous pictures in return. Rose slumbered through all of it, her family telling stories and laughing rather calming her down than waking her up. When Taiyang went to the kitchen to get dessert Raven decided it was time to release Mercury and he carefully picked her up. Maybe she just wanted to hold her, but Yang almost didn’t dare to think of that.

Later that night they sat by the Christmas tree, Ruby with Zwei on her lap, trying to follow the conversation while also reading Raven’s book. Raven and Taiyang sat on the couch, Rose still on her lap and playing with her hair, both caught up in their own conversation, sitting suspiciously close together. Yang and Mercury sat on the floor, a blanket wrapped around both of them and Yang only now realised she had stopped searching for signs of discomfort on his face whenever they were around her family at some point this year.

“Pretty crazy family Rose chose to be born into”, Qrow said to both of them. “I’ll go and get Tai a drink, that’s the only chance he’ll make a move tonight.” He got up and Yang blinked as she watched him disappear into the kitchen.

“Wait, is he trying to set them up?”

Mercury chuckled. He played with her hair and Yang followed his gaze to Ruby, her parents and Rose. “You know”, he said. “I think her choice wasn’t too awful.”

Yang smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Did you have any Christmas tradition growing up?”, she asked.

“I never celebrated Christmas.”

She looked up. “Never?”

“No. Not a great loss to be honest. Emerald had a shitty family and celebrated, now she hates Christmas. I’m just indifferent.”

“You know, she hates Christmas”, Yang said in an attempt to lighten the mood, “and she has green hair...”

“No, Yang. Don’t.”

“She’s the –“

He shut her up by kissing her on the lips, briefly, but it warmed her heart more than anything. He had always been hesitant to show affection in front of her friends and family. “If you say that I can’t guarantee for your safety”, he said, but he smirked.

“Tai”, Qrow said, standing in the doorway. “I think you broke the stove.”

“It was most likely you, Qrow.” Raven rolled her yes. “Or you’re too stupid to turn it on.”

“I’ll see what he has done.” Taiyang got up. “Did you turn the right plate on?”

“I’ll help you, you were always bad at figuring that kind of stuff out.” Raven followed him, putting Rose into Qrow’s arms on the way. “Try not to drop her.”

“I never dropped one of the girls, did I?” Qrow smirked. He sat down on the sofa and looked at Yang and Ruby, letting Rose play with the cross around his neck. “I hung up a mistletoe over the stove”, he whispered. “Don’t expect them back for a while.”

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate, and a fluffy good time for everyone else. I hope you enjoyed this. 
> 
> This is for everyone who has read my stories over the past year, especially the wonderful, wonderful people who have drawn fanart of Rose (oh my goood thank you so much!) and everyone who has commented my fanfictions here on AO3 or on Tumblr, even if it was just a nice tag left on a reblog. Thank you so much, you are the reason I kept going with my fanfictions and managed to finish two big ones this year. I seriously wouldn't have done it without you. I hope you enjoyed this. 
> 
> See you again next year.


End file.
